A Perfect Day In Gorgeous Monterey Bay in Northern California
It was another beautiful day, the type of day where you just want to be outside.
And I was, for I had arranged to rent a bicycle from Blazing Saddles in Monterey, CA, and meet some local friends to ride and pedal our way on the 17-mile drive with the Lone Cypress tree as our destination and turnaround point.
As spectacular as this place is to drive, it’s even better on a bike. That’s because the pace is slower and the scenery slows down so that you can appreciate very turn and every view. Plus, you’re not stopping and getting out of the car every half mile or so; on a bike you simply apply the hand breaks and take a break.
Our journey began at Cannery Row and we road past the Monterey Bay Aquarium and along a path through Pacific Grove.
This, I believe, is one of the prettiest piece of coastline in a state filled with them. The water is a deep blue color, which is accented by piece of green kelp floating on the surface, and the water gently splashes against rocks that look as if they belong on a distant planet.
There’s Lover’s Cove, a sandy beach area in a small lagoon (and a great restaurant with one heck of a view, Beach House) and big rocks on a point. This continues along the coast to more breathtaking scenery.
Fortunately, my friends were as appreciative of the view as was I, for even for people who live here appreciate the beauty. We stopped several times, exactly the pace I like to be going on a scenic bike ride.
The scenery changed when we turned to climb up a manageable hill then banged a right to the entrance to the 17-mile drive. We paused for a second and chuckled at the cars lined up, whose occupants were forking out $10.75 to access a road we were riding on for free.
It was my first time biking it and I quickly learned you had better pay attention to the cars because they are not paying a lot of attention to the few of us on bikes. It’s a wining road and we saw deer grazing on the greens of a golf course and then, there it was, our destination and the landmark of the Monterey Bay area: the Lone Cypress tree.
Standing proudly by itself on the edge of a cliff with the backdrop of the coastline and Pacific Ocean, it almost seemed to be poising for photos. And there were a lot of people taking pictures, somewhere around 50. With parking limited, we had to dodge cars pulling in and out of the area to get a clear look at the tree, which is several yards away from any human.
You can’t get too close to the Lone Cypress and that’s good. It has been there for 250 years and in 2019 was damaged during a winter storm where it lost one of its iconic tree limbs.
We, like most everybody else, spent about 15 minutes there, maybe 20, then continued on our journey. For those in cars, it was to the Pebble Beach Golf Club clubhouse and for us, it was back along the scenic bike path through Pacific Grove and into Monterey. After arriving back in “town,” we had some wine at one of the many Monterey wine tasting rooms.
That, friends, was a perfect day in Monterey Bay.
Cheers!
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